Rohwer preservation projects get national grants LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The National Park Service has awarded nearly a quarter-million dollars in grants to projects in Arkansas that help preserve and interpret sites that were used to confine Japanese Americans during World War II. The grants announced Thursday are among $2.9 million awarded nationally. In Arkansas, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock received a $220,000 grant for its cemetery conservation project at the Rohwer Relocation C...

Dollarway schools removed from state control LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas State Board of Education has voted to remove the Dollarway School District in Jefferson County from state control. The state took over the district in 2012, citing problems with Dollarway's administration and student performance. The nearly 1,300-student district had been on probation for two years before the state takeover. After the takeover, Dollarway's school board was dissolved and a new superintendent was ...

Pryor proposes curbs on veterans' wait times LITTLE ROCK (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas has proposed legislation to prevent veterans from being dropped from the VA health care system following long periods between doctor's appointments. The two-term Democratic lawmaker on Thursday proposed a bill that would prohibit the VA secretary from altering availability and wait times for hospital care, medical services or other health care based on the length of time since the veteran's l...

White County teenager killed in train collision GARNER (AP) — Authorities in White County say a teenager was killed when her car was struck by a train. White County Chief Deputy Phillip Miller says the collision happened Wednesday morning on railroad tracks near Garner. Miller says 16-year-old Logan Roper drove her vehicle onto the railroad tracks as a Union Pacific train was approaching. Miller told The Daily Citizen the train's emergency brake system was applied but the train was unable t...

Inmate dies in infirmary at prison GRADY (AP) — Officials say an Arkansas inmate serving a life sentence on a murder conviction has died in prison. Arkansas Department of Corrections spokeswoman Shea Wilson says 55-year-old Robbin Ridling died Sunday morning in the infirmary of the Cummins Unit prison. Wilson says the staff physician pronounced Ridling dead of natural causes and that the death is not considered suspicious. According to the Texarkana Gazette (http://bit.ly/1pLRq...

Anti-Obama themes used in 2 GOP runoff races LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Fellow Republicans Leslie Rutledge and John Burris faced the same problem in Arkansas' primary runoff, fending off mailers and TV ads that tried to paint them as allies of a Democratic president they've repeatedly criticized. But the outcomes were sharply different, with Rutledge winning the GOP's nomination for attorney general and Burris losing his bid for a state Senate seat. Tuesday's runoff highlighted a new challenge f...

Man pleads not guilty to woman's Tontitown slaying SPRINGDALE (AP) — A Springdale man has pleaded not guilty to charges in the stabbing death of a woman in Tontitown. Lewis Hedges Jr., 34, entered the plea during arraignment Wednesday on a charge of being an accomplice to capital murder in the May stabbing death of Dawn Leann Frazier. Investigators say Hedges told Brock Atkins, 19, to stab Frazier. Atkins says Hedges held a gun to his head and threatened to kill him if he didn't stab the woman...

Lawmakers back veterans care fixes LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas' two senators have voted for a bill making it easier for veterans enduing long wait times for VA medical care to receive treatment from local doctors instead. The vote comes a day after the state's House members voted for a similar measure. Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman and Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor on Wednesday voted for the measure, which passed on a 93-3 vote. The legislation would authorize about $35 billio...

Ex-county judge pleads guilty to bribery charge EL DORADO (AP) — A former Ouachita County judge has pleaded guilty to a bribery charge involving a Federal Emergency Management Agency contract to clean up debris following October 2009 storms in the county. Court documents show that James Michael Hesterly entered the plea Wednesday as part of an agreement in which other charges against him were dropped. Hesterly's attorney did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Federal prose...

Judge orders mental exam for Pangburn suspect HEBER SPRINGS (AP) — A judge has ordered a mental evaluation for a 25-year-old Pangburn man accused of killing his parents. Cleburne County Circuit Judge John Dan Kemp approved the mental evaluation request Tuesday for Justin Nickelson. Prosecutors charged Nickelson with two counts of capital murder in the April shotgun slayings of his parents, 61-year-old Gerald Nickelson and 58-year-old Rhonda Nickelson. Justin Nickelson is being held in the...

Derailment repairs cause detour in NE Arkansas WEINER (AP) — Parts of a northeast Arkansas highway will be closed through at least Friday as crews make repairs following last week's train derailment. Powerful winds blew a freight train off Union Pacific railroad tracks last Friday, causing cargo boxes to spill onto U.S. 49 near the Poinsett and Craighead county line. No hazardous materials were involved, but the derailment caused damage to the railway and the highway. The Arkansas State Hi...

Rutledge wins GOP nomination for attorney general LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Former Republican National Committee lawyer Leslie Rutledge won the GOP nomination for Arkansas attorney general on Tuesday in a divisive primary runoff featuring attacks from an outside group that tried to portray her as allied with national Democratic figures. In another high profile race, one of the architects of Arkansas' compromise Medicaid expansion lost his bid for a state Senate seat. The race was being watched close...

New firm, 75 high-paying jobs headed to Osceola OSCEOLA (AP) — A business that recycles precious metals from junked electronics equipment broke ground Tuesday in Osceola, where the company promised to bring 75 high-paying jobs to work at the $35 million plant. The ceremony drew former Vice President Al Gore, who is a partner in the Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers venture capital firm, which is investing in the business, BlueOak Arkansas. Workers at the plant in northeast Arkansas will ex...

Poet Maya Angelou remembered for wisdom, clarity WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Maya Angelou liked to say that people will forget what you said or did in your life, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Former President Bill Clinton, first lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey said Saturday they were among the millions touched by Angelou's wisdom when they needed help to rise. Family and friends, both famous and anonymous, gathered Saturday to remember one of the 20th century's most...

Errant artillery shell lands near home FORT SMITH (AP) — The National Guard says an artillery shell fired by a Missouri Army National Guard unit during training at Fort Chaffee landed near a home in Franklin County. No injuries are reported but the home was damaged. The Guard says the 1st Battalion, 129th Field Artillery Regiment of Maryville, Missouri, was conducting a live-fire exercise when the incident occurred Thursday afternoon. Arkansas National Guard Maj. Matt Snead told th...

Craighead County voters asked to use paper ballots JONESBORO (AP) — Craighead County elections officials will be asking voters in the upcoming primary runoff to cast paper ballots because of a glitch in the software that accompanies the county's electronic voting machines. The issue was discovered Wednesday during a test of the voting equipment, Election Commission Chairman Scott McDaniel told The Jonesboro Sun (http://bit.ly/1kTHVdD ). The software issue does not change the vote that was cast...

Police: 2 found dead at home in Cotton PlantCOTTON PLANT (AP) — Arkansas State Police say they've been asked to help investigate after two people were found dead in Cotton Plant. State police said in a news release that Cotton Plant police asked for assistance Saturday after officers investigating reports of bodies found one person dead outside a home on the town's south side and the second person dead inside the home. The names of the two were not immediately released.

Daughter of slain Batesville woman is charged BATESVILLE (AP) — The daughter of a Batesville woman found dead near Malvern has been arrested for her mother's death. Independence County authorities say Jerrie Acklin was arrested for suspicion of murder in the death of 64-year-old Linda Jo Stingley. Acklin's first name has also been spelled Jerry and Jerri. Acklin is being held on $500,000 bond in the Independence County jail. Jailers did not know if she had an attorney. Stingley's body was...

Wal-Mart CEO: speed up pace of change FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Wal-Mart's CEO Doug McMillon said the world's largest retailer's task is to more quickly bring e-commerce together with physical stores to better serve shoppers. At Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s annual shareholders meeting on Friday, McMillon talked about a service that Wal-Mart offers at its Asda.com Web site in the U.K., where customers can order groceries online and then pick them up from trucks at various pickup points. He als...

Bitter end to GOP runoff for attorney general LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Little Rock lawyers Leslie Rutledge and David Sterling don't differ much ideologically as they seek the Republican nomination for Arkansas attorney general. Both are vowing to use the office to fight the federal government, and say they'll continue to defend the state's same-sex marriage ban, abortion restrictions and voter ID law as they're being challenged in court. The two are instead locked in an increasingly acrimonious...